Chapter 20 #2
Baz had followed him into the room. He remained tall, but his shoulders were tight. He barely looked at me as I fell to my knees and checked on Gretel. I know now it’s because he didn’t want to tear his eyes away from Rufus.
Baz’s fingers curled into fists. If it weren’t for the ballroom full of people, Rufus would have never escaped Baz’s wrath concerning the way Gretel had been thrown to the ground.
“You’ve deceived me!” Rufus flung the words at Baz, creating more of a frenzy in the crowd. “You’ve not only kept my servant, my servant who ran out of her contract, but you dare to defile her!”
My chest ached as I sucked in a breath. All around me, people gasped.
Thank the stars, I still wore my mask. Not that it stopped the heat from rushing to my cheeks.
Memories of what Baz had just done to me seared into my mind. If Rufus had walked in on us, there’d be no denying what act we were partaking in.
Gretel’s chin wobbled, and that’s all I needed to know.
Baz couldn’t deny harboring Gretel, a servant belonging to another gentleman. And he couldn’t deny tearing into her cunt.
I smoothed the skirts of her dress.
“I think you will find—” Baz tried to say.
Rufus interrupted. “I think you will find!” He’d taken off his mask, and I watched his cheeks redden, puffing out to a degree which made me think he’d explode. “That this will not stand! You claimed to know nothing of my servant running off. And now I find you sunk inside her.”
More gasps filled the audience.
“This will not stand!” Rufus repeated. “I have every right by the law—”
Baz’s jaw spasmed. The sharp jawline remained clenched, his entire being tensed. “Yes, tell me of the law.”
Rufus reared back. Had he really expected Baz to lie down and take it?
Yes. The answer came to me immediately. And every moment this encounter continued, a knowing dread dragged me down. Rufus took Baz’s response as provocation, and he matched it with more of his own fire.
“I have every right to bring this to the council!” Rufus roared.
His gaze snapped toward Gretel, who remained crumpled on the ground.
“Both of you. They might not judge you for being a whore”—the words came with venom—“but they will for your failure to abide by your contract. You have not worked for your wages!”
People backed away when Rufus swung his head around, his dark, beady eyes searching for something.
“I will have an arrest made this very night!”
My mouth dropped open, and with one hand still on Gretel, I felt her sharp inhale of breath.
It was possibly this response from us, our fear so starkly laid out, that had Baz swirling in darkness.
“You think the law favors you?” Baz said, and I have no idea what possessed him to say such a thing. Of course, the law was on Rufus’s side. “You were hardly an honorable employer!”
“Says the man balls deep into the whore!” Spit flew from Rufus’s lips as people pressed back. “Where is the law?”
The man looked around as if he expected someone to rush forward with shackles immediately.
“Surely,” another gentleman said, stepping forward. He’d visited Blackwell Manor several times. He always wore a pocket watch, and his black hair was streaked with thick waves of gray. “This not need become such a debacle.”
Rufus scoffed. “Take his side then, if you think this devil to be deserving of your loyalty. Stars knows you’ve never hidden your disdain of me.”
“This is not about taking sides,” the man said. He cast an eye around the room. “But perhaps we take this behind closed doors.”
“Oh, yes, you and your back door deals,” Rufus spat. “No. I’ve been disrespected enough. By both of them!”
Violence lined the last few words, his hard eyes flashing at Gretel, who trembled.
The man noticed this. Almost everyone noticed it.
The audience had tried to stay out of Rufus’s firing line, but they pressed toward Gretel. Who was this gorgeous creature the men fought over? It clearly wasn’t her abilities as a housekeeper that attracted the notice of two such established gentlemen.
“Clinemell it is late,” the man who decided he’d referee the argument stated. “Bring this before the Council as is your right. But let’s have some manners. Come now, off the floor.” He beckoned gently to Gretel, making himself into some sort of grandfatherly figure.
Baz didn’t move, but I felt his stare. His muscles were so tight I thought he’d snap and break. His pretty blue eyes were nearly black as he watched us rise from the floor.
I still wore my mask, and many probably had no idea who I was. But I stayed close to Gretel, my hands wrapping around her arm. I’m not sure if I actually helped her stand or if it was the other way around.
“She ran out on her wages,” Rufus declared. “I will press charges for her insolence. And Coldwell knew it when he hired her.”
“Perhaps he didn’t hire her,” the other man said.
“Perhaps he didn’t hire her?” Rufus mockingly replied. “No, I suppose he didn’t hire her. The whore is known to open her legs for anyone.”
“Watch your mouth!” Baz shouted.
“He knew my servant had run out on her contract,” Rufus said. “At the very least he allowed her refuge instead of reporting her to the law. As such I will be compensated.”
Compensated. Gretel was a mere financial transaction for him. She’d be placed in jail while Baz would only have to hand over a few coins.
“Let this be dealt with tomorrow at the Council,” the nameless man said. “We can convene early. But might I suggest. . .”
“The girl goes to jail tonight!” Rufus yelled.
“There has been no proof that she ran out on her contract,” Baz said with a clenched jaw.
Rufus began to shake. “Is my word not enough?”
A poignant pause leveled the room.
It was during this moment that Rufus spotted me. He’d barely taken note when I sat by Gretel on the floor.
“Fine!” he barked, his neck red. “Under Clause 2.761 of Transaction Creeds I shall acquire your paid servant for damages.”
My stomach dipped, but I only really noticed Baz. I’d never seen him so angry.
The nameless man raised a hand as if to stop the onslaught of yelling. “Now, now. That’s an archaic rule, Rufus. And Coldwell is right. No proof has been submitted of. . .”
He lingered, half looking at Gretel as he realized he didn’t know her name or any particulars of her story.
But he did look worried, and I think that had more to do with the way Rufus, the normally uptight, unresponsive man, had thrown her to the ground.
This nameless man’s natural inclination wasn’t to the gentleman in that moment, like most would support.
But rather, the poor, delicate creature stomped on.
For that, I can be thankful, and somewhat overlook the knowledge that if Rufus hadn’t acted like a fool, this man probably wouldn’t have been as sympathetic.
But the next bit did stun me.
“You refuse to let this whore go to jail where she belongs,” Rufus spewed. “How am I to know she won’t run off in the night as she is apt? Justice will be served. This one shall be brought back to my manor and we will reconvene this conversation before the Council tomorrow.”
Baz stepped forward, and the crowd stepped back. That’s how menacing he appeared.
I trembled. Gretel grabbed my hand, squeezing tight. She’d not uttered a word this whole time, but her green eyes filled with unshed tears.
My heart jumped into my throat. I’d done nothing wrong. At least not anything that I was truly ashamed of. Rufus’s reaction affirmed my decision to hide Gretel away from him.
Only it hadn’t worked.
For a split second, as the stars whirled above us, as the crowd pressed together and foamed at the mouth for scandalous information. As Gretel clung to me and as the nameless man tried to calm Rufus, I met Baz’s eyes.
Those dark blue eyes were void of their usual mischief. For a second, the ballroom faded. My insides scorched with dread and fury.
Because why did this have to happen? Why did we have to throw a ball? Why did Rufus have to come? Why did Baz and Gretel get caught?
Trying to keep Gretel was all for naught. And worse, in that moment, I was the collateral damage.